The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-06-23
MIST BUCKET SHOPS GO!
A QUESTION THAT IS SERIOUSLY
AGlTArING CHICAGO.
Will the New Law Prohibiting
I'm Grain Outside the Board OF TRADE
70. KicldIy Enforced?-some OF tne
Men who Run Bucket SHOPS

fspecial Correspondence
Cocoon lime % The Illinois legisla
,pre having passed law making me heel''i,s
81 n bucket shop n misdemeanor ai'er 'uiy
There is considerable excitement id INC
vicinity Of the Chicago board OF TRADE "hoio
,bcso fungi ~ modern speculation mo-. ~
,.,.,o,.e,ofe The bucket shop Is a big ihsiitn
,il,,,,uf bor,s in the west, and If tins nc" ia"
\. richly enforced 10 viii destroy one OF our
,,,,a,,-f industries. \ good authority re
I'll. ,stiruatod that there are 100 BUCKET
.lors i'm thocouniry, outside u Chicago iuiiy
op, half Of these being backed 10y Oh'aso
c,pital or controlled by combinations OF
Ills having their boso II operations IN TINS
e. IA r,ct the grain trade rs 1t Is
called here. or grain gambling, AS pAl'
saoscn people put 10, nas been u'VeI'eu
sn.h au extent from the regular or D'aiu ~
,r,do channels and % the bucket shops iha'
,,a cbicaco board. the biggest gambling ShoP
of them an. has made persistent but unsuc
cessful efforts % close mp the outside con
Germs While Wall street and tine chicago
lizard Of trade are complaining Of duil ulh'S
and a scarcity Of traders, II Is undeniable tha'
never before was there SD much ganbins i'll
grim and stocks But IL is the bucket SHOPS
that are reaping the harvest, and ann NOT sur
,ris.d 10 hear that there are III this city
b,lf dozen men who In few years have
.uassed out OF the bucket shop business ior-
tunes ranging from S23O,0W 70 S'Vo'VOV'
James A. Murphy, who ie" years ago was
"A clerk in brokers' Office, can now size up
s3DO. 900: Riley, the pool seller ana bucAe,
shop hacker Is worth nearly $bO,O"' ana
Dave Pulsifer could raise S2OO,OOO IN twenty
four hours Dan LOring and Pope a. Pea
BODY. who used 10 run big bucket shop III
the Palmer house, are said 10 be nllllonaiIes
There are plenty more who have been almost
~ successful. but with whose standing l am
not familiar. Jack Hayerly, the minstrel
man. who got his first start In life by
making big winning at faro, and
who has been an inveterate gamester
and speculator ever since, is partner
In biz bucket shop and pool room right
across the street from the board Of trade.
The bucket shop business is all very fine Tor
those who stand on the inside and rake down
the profits, but il is even worse for the Gus
toner-the sucker or producer than
the regular and perhaps more respectable
game And it Is no wonder that Chicago
contains so many men who have grown iich
oHt Of the buckets for all such concerns,
wherever located, find it convenient % have a
Chicago connection This city Is the stomach
it would hardly be correct % say the brains
of the biz devil fish which has thrown out
its tentacles 10 all parts OF the country rive
OF six years ago there were hardly amy buck
ct shops. here or elsewhere But finally two
OF three schemers managed % have am order
issued ON the board Of trade that none Of It's
members was 10 handle trade for less than
the regular commission Of One-quarter cent
a bushd Almost in day bucket shops
sprang into existence. Up 10 tins time coun-
try brokers had been wiring the orders Of
their customers TO their correspondents IN
this city, by whom the orders Were filed in
the regular way, the city brokers dividing
the commissions with their country agents.
Under the new rule this could not be- done,
and Immediately a crowd Of bucket
shops sprang up. Stung by the loss
Of trade the big board cndeayored 10 re
trace its steps and 70 crush out its many
little rivals 1t tried % prevent the bucket
people getting its quotations and appealed 20
the courts for protection, but found itself
at every turn One concern was
enabled, through the operations Of an in
junction, 70 obtain Chicago quotations via
New York, receiving them over 1000 miles
Of wire within three minutes after they were
first posted in the exchange hall here, and
distributing them TO hundreds Of branch es-
throughout the country After
two years Of fruitless litigation and the ex-
penditure Of $4,000, the Chicago board con
cluded that it would be- better 10 mako its
quotations free 10 all than 70 help porpctuatc
"A bucket shop monopoly by driving all the
little shops 10 one piratical concern for quo
tatiOns
So now the country is full OF bucket shops.
II is in the country that these irregular gam
bling concerns find most Of their support
"The country IN speculative parlance, is
everything outside Of Chicago aud Wall
street "The country is the bucket shops
chief producer, just as the mechanic, clerk or
other wage worker is the mfaiing sucker
for the faro dcns which still, u reform admin
istration 10 the contrary notwithstanding,
flourish unmolested ia TINS city
Bucket shop" rs IA phrase, had its origin
about six years ago, when james Murphy, n
Chicago sporting man, started "a little shop
wherein deals ia grain could he made in
smaller quantities than the 5000 hushel lots
required by the rules Of the board Murphy
was the father Of the bucket shop business,
and at the beginning he was simply catering
to the small trade As the boys used 10 say:
'lf you don't want 10 bay hushcloi wheat,
why don't you 20 down to Mmphy's. Hen
sell You bucketful" In the bucket shop,
AS nearly everybody knows, all transactions
are simply wagers between the customers and
the proprictors Tine Spectator, in buying
| 90 bushels of wheat at ~ on cent margin,
simply bets $40 that wheat Will go up u 81
before It fdis back to -. The proprietor
bet, that 1t doesn't II the price goes 20 Sc
the speculator doubles bis money, less com
mission, and If IL goes 20 - hc is entitled 10
draw so But If the price falls back to 50
he is closed out 40 total loss. unless, per-
chance, he wants 10 remain inn by sending
tlO more good money after the so that has
gone O. the bad Tue deal never reaches
the board of trade at ALL and of course has no
Influence whatever on the market, though
the bucket shop bull may fondly imagine